Jamo3103 wrote:I would suggest keeping an eye on bundles on eBay is the best thing to do as often you might be able to pick up one with a couple of games or controllers thrown in. I'd suggest as long as they have a good amount of feedback you'll be fine but you're always covered by eBays money back guarantee anyway. It is becoming a more expensive console to pick up without much yellowing but I reckon for £70 on eBay you could probably get one with a couple of games for that.

Ok thanks for that, I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled.

Jamo3103 wrote:Do you have any local independent games shops, I have a few near me and they occasionally do SNES bundles at quite reasonable prices.

As the man said, bundles are the best shout. I've just transported my SNES collection to my flat in preparation for another move at the end of May. Only problem is that I sold my SNES a few years back to Skarjo and don't remember which games I offloaded to him. I also, err, don't have a SNES

Lotus wrote:Does anybody know of any particularly good retro gaming shops in London? Heading there at the weekend and while I've been to a few arcades and such on my last couple of trips, it'd be good to find some shops if possible.

There is one in Southwest London called Retro Game Base, it's not that far from where I live and I've been in a few times. They have a decent stock but they don't seem to be open consistently so i'd definitely check their hours before just turning up.

I have this problem with the one that's open round the corner from my flat - opening hours are 10.30 to 5.30 and it's never once been open when I've tried to get in, be it at 11am or 4.30pm. It's bizarre because I can see a box full of SNES games through the window that I want to peruse.

Been trying to add to my Gamecube collection over the last few months but it can be so hard to find games in the condition you want.

I ended up ordering Twilight Princess 3 times before I got one I was happy with, people describing stuff as very good when the inside of the sleeve has a big coffee ring on it

Ordered Baten Kaitos, described as good and the box was all scuffed up, a rip to the front label and a big watermark right in the middle. The guy told me that it was representative of normal wear and tear but after debating this with him managing to return for a refund.

Had a Skies of Arcadia: Legends I ordered a few years back that was described as very good but turned up stinking of cigarette smoke and all yellowed.

I really don't understand how some people look after their games so badly, I have boxes from cardboard game boy games I owned as a kid which are in better condition, my Gamecube games that I've owned from new are still in near mint condition. It's bizarre!

On the plus side my copy of Doshin the Giant turned up and was in perfect condition

I'm getting to the point now where I have nearly all the Gamecube games I want, but the last few I want to pick up are the ones that go for crazy money like Kirby's Air Ride, Pokemon XD, Fire Emblem and Mario Baseball, some of the prices they go for are absolutely crazy

There are about 60 GameCube games I still want to add to my collection(including a replacement for SSBM) - most are cheap but there are about fifteen that will cost upwards of £40 for decent condition versions; I reckon it'll take about five years to get hold of them all.

Corazon de Leon wrote:There are about 60 GameCube games I still want to add to my collection(including a replacement for SSBM) - most are cheap but there are about fifteen that will cost upwards of £40 for decent condition versions; I reckon it'll take about five years to get hold of them all.

I MAY have a copy of SSBM in my mum's loft that I'd be willing to part with . I'll have a look at the weekend.

Legit my GC games have disappeared in the past at parties so people know games are getting more and more lucrative, kinda kidding but if people I don't know come to my house there's not much stopping them slipping a smooth hundred snoops on the way out. It's just crazy to think that a small games collection can be the most valuable thing in the house nowadays, probably worth than my mac.

Think I've mentioned the other time where a guy begged me to have his photo taken holding my 2nd (replacement) copy of Twin Snakes and wanted to borrow it. I said no.

I had no idea GC games were of any value, but I guess it makes sense that as soon as something becomes obsolete there's immediately a scarcity. In my head it's still too recent a console to be rare, but I guess it's 10 years since they stopped making them. I think I've got a few of the more mainstream games kicking around in the loft, might be sitting on a (small, very small) gold mine!

I'll leave all my old games to my daughter in my will. Her face when she's expecting a lump of cash and instead gets a bunch of crappy old PS1 games

Jamo3103 wrote:Been trying to add to my Gamecube collection over the last few months but it can be so hard to find games in the condition you want.

I ended up ordering Twilight Princess 3 times before I got one I was happy with, people describing stuff as very good when the inside of the sleeve has a big coffee ring on it

Ordered Baten Kaitos, described as good and the box was all scuffed up, a rip to the front label and a big watermark right in the middle. The guy told me that it was representative of normal wear and tear but after debating this with him managing to return for a refund.

Had a Skies of Arcadia: Legends I ordered a few years back that was described as very good but turned up stinking of cigarette smoke and all yellowed.

I really don't understand how some people look after their games so badly, I have boxes from cardboard game boy games I owned as a kid which are in better condition, my Gamecube games that I've owned from new are still in near mint condition. It's bizarre!

On the plus side my copy of Doshin the Giant turned up and was in perfect condition

I'm getting to the point now where I have nearly all the Gamecube games I want, but the last few I want to pick up are the ones that go for crazy money like Kirby's Air Ride, Pokemon XD, Fire Emblem and Mario Baseball, some of the prices they go for are absolutely crazy

Collection pics please.

Sorry to hear about your tales of woe, a couple of questions: have any of these auctions lacked pictures of the actual product? My personal policy is no ‘pictures, no bids’. It’s worked for me and I’ve still be able to get items sometimes well below the average by keeping an eye out for the auctions that end at odd times (I even set an alarm for 4am to get my copy of Luigi’s Mansion). Thankfully I’ve not had a problem yet.

There’s still quite a few games out there that I’d like to pick up: the Mario Parties, Twilight Princess, Mario Baseball, Second Sight, Resi 0…

Jamo3103 wrote:Been trying to add to my Gamecube collection over the last few months but it can be so hard to find games in the condition you want.

I ended up ordering Twilight Princess 3 times before I got one I was happy with, people describing stuff as very good when the inside of the sleeve has a big coffee ring on it

Ordered Baten Kaitos, described as good and the box was all scuffed up, a rip to the front label and a big watermark right in the middle. The guy told me that it was representative of normal wear and tear but after debating this with him managing to return for a refund.

Had a Skies of Arcadia: Legends I ordered a few years back that was described as very good but turned up stinking of cigarette smoke and all yellowed.

I really don't understand how some people look after their games so badly, I have boxes from cardboard game boy games I owned as a kid which are in better condition, my Gamecube games that I've owned from new are still in near mint condition. It's bizarre!

On the plus side my copy of Doshin the Giant turned up and was in perfect condition

I'm getting to the point now where I have nearly all the Gamecube games I want, but the last few I want to pick up are the ones that go for crazy money like Kirby's Air Ride, Pokemon XD, Fire Emblem and Mario Baseball, some of the prices they go for are absolutely crazy

Collection pics please.

Sorry to hear about your tales of woe, a couple of questions: have any of these auctions lacked pictures of the actual product? My personal policy is no ‘pictures, no bids’. It’s worked for me and I’ve still be able to get items sometimes well below the average by keeping an eye out for the auctions that end at odd times (I even set an alarm for 4am to get my copy of Luigi’s Mansion). Thankfully I’ve not had a problem yet.

There’s still quite a few games out there that I’d like to pick up: the Mario Parties, Twilight Princess, Mario Baseball, Second Sight, Resi 0…

@Coratheexplorer

Which games would you be looking to pick up?

Yeah they've had pictures but in both cases the water damage has been hidden behind the cover itself and as they've been dark covers its not been noticeable until the game is in hand. At least you can rely on the eBay money back guarantee even if it can be a pain with the occasional unhelpful seller.

My priorities are those three rare ones, but if I could I'd love to own every Nintendo published game (in the UK), currently missing quite a few of those though. All the Pokemon games, Mario Parties, DDR Mario Mix and the ones I mentioned earlier. Also missing the Metroid Primes and Pikmin games as I picked them up on Wii, will probably add the Gamecube versions back to my collection at the moment. Think I have between 40-50 games at the moment so probably looking at adding another 10-15 to have all the games I'd want, will share a pic of the collection so far when I'm home later!

I have the list of GC and 64 games at home - it varies between games that I want purely for collection purposes(Ikaruga, Pokemon XD), and games that I want purely for nostalgia purposes(Tony Hawks 4). It's the same with the SNES and N64 - ideally at the end of my collecting phase I'll have about 100 games for each of them, some valuable and some not. I'll post them up when I get home tomorrow.

I'm not as precious as a lot of collectors in that I don't need mint condition games - I intend to play them sporadically you see. I will pick up mint condition copies of the likes of Banjo Tooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day as appropriate, as I have them on other consoles and don't need to unseal them, but in the main I'm not too bothered. I did buy a copy of F-Zero X recently that was disgusting though, sticker all torn etc. That's not acceptable, so I'll need to replace that eventually. I don't play a lot of modern games, so my spending on them is minimal.

I'm also gonna post pics of my collections - again, they aren't amazing, but I like to see other people's so hopefully it'll spur some of you on!

That's a really nice set, Jamo! I've never owned a Gamecube but I do remember being tempted to get one when Doshin the Giant launched. I think it only gained mediocre review assessments but I liked the look of it!

That's a really nice set, Jamo! I've never owned a Gamecube but I do remember being tempted to get one when Doshin the Giant launched. I think it only gained mediocre review assessments but I liked the look of it!

Thanks man, Doshin the Giant was one I'd always had my eye on since seeing the 64DD screenshots back in N64 magazine. When the Gamecube version came out I was put off by the mediocre reviews and never got round to buying it, since I've been gradually adding to my Gamecube collection again over the last 12 months I thought it was about time I picked it up.

AndyXL wrote:I got Doshin the Giant when it was first released, mainly out of curiosity, and as it was one one of the only games to receive a European and not a US release...

...There's a good reason for that. It's terrible. I played it for all of a few hours and then never played it again.

Yeah I'm kind of anticipating this to be honest, adding it more as a collection piece rather than something I ever expect to play for more than curiosity's sake. If it was bad when it was first released then it's probably a safe bet it plays even worse now!